Mt. Everest Base Camp – 8 Reasons to Make the Trek

This is a guest post written by my daughter, Kristen McAdam – an adventurous soul with her mother’s wanderlust. At least her cubicle is more interesting than most!

Back in February I made the decision to ask my boss for an entire month off to go to Nepal. I was keen to tick off one of the items on my bucket list. I’ve wanted to climb to the Mt. Everest base camp ever since I first heard about it, probably when I was 8 years old. I had actually planned a trip a few years ago to do it – paid the deposit and everything. But then life happened and I somehow ended up going to Spain to walk the Camino de Santiago instead. So when one of my best friend’s told me she was going to Nepal for several months it gave me the best possible excuse to plan the trip. I work in professional sports and no – I’m not one of the pros…I wish! But my work life revolves around when the NHL and NBA is in season. I knew with both of those seasons finishing up in May that it would give me the angle to ask my boss for the time off. Luckily she went for it and a few months later I was off on a plane (well three planes actually and about 40 hours of traveling) to Kathmandu! So that brings me to my list…

8 Reasons To Make the Trek to Mt. Everest Base Camp

#1 – Leave the office for an entire month…duh.

#2 – Meet people from around the world

I booked my trip with Gap Adventures and loved it. I had people on my trip from Canada, the US, Wales, and Switzerland plus our guides were from Mongolia and India and our porters from Nepal.

# 3 – Have the opportunity to meet people who have summitted the highest mountain in the world

On the day that we would finally reach base camp I met a man who had summitted about 2 weeks before. I was so excited that I got a picture taken with him and we chatted for just a few minutes. His wife had summitted the day before so he was heading back down from base camp to call his family and friends and give them the good news. After my trek was over I met another group who had also just finished. Not all of them made it. One of the guys got within about 20 minutes of the summit when he ran out of oxygen and was forced to turn around. Can you imagine? One of the most memorable things they told my friend and I is that the bodies of past climbers are now used as markers. For instance – you are supposed to turn left when you get to gray boots. That sounds quite eerie.

#4 – Wake up, step outside your door and be surrounded by the most amazing scenery you’ve ever imagined

Every morning was absolutely incredible but I remember the morning in Namche Bazaar the best. There had been a lot of clouds in our first few days on the trek so we hadn’t seen much of the high peaks. That morning in Namche Bazaar I stepped outside the door to a view of the most amazing peaks in front of me. There were clouds about midway up the mountains but you could see the peaks through the top of the clouds. With the light of the morning striking the steep faces it was the most incredible sight. I remember thinking that I was so incredibly lucky to be there at that moment.

#5 – The chance to fly into one of the most dangerous airports in the world with one of the shortest runways in the world

To be honest I’m not sure why I’m including this because that landing and takeoff from Lukla airport is the scariest thing on the planet. The runway is this short little thing on the edge of a 2000 foot cliff. So to land the pilot has to be precise so as to not hit the cliff in landing but also not land too far into the runway to allow the plane time to stop. Taking off is a whole other can of worms because if the plane doesn’t get enough speed, then it will fall off the cliff at the end of that runway. Did I mention that the runway is on an incline of about 12 degrees so you land going uphill and take off going downhill? Does that sound like fun or what? But I guess it’s on this list because it’s one of those once in a lifetime things!

#6 – Meet porters who defy normal human abilities

The load that the porters carry on their backs is unreal. I have the utmost respect for the people of Nepal (or any other backpacking region) that spend their lives carrying loads for tourists. We saw them carrying everything under the sun. The most memorable would be the huge beams of wood. The porters must each have had ten or so 2 by 4′s. And some of them were doing it in sandals that were so torn apart it was like they were walking in bare feet. I wish I could have tipped every single one of those men I met.

#7 – The opportunity to visit a Buddhist monastery in the middle of the Himalayas

The monastery itself is beautiful. It sits at the top of a hill about 800 feet up from the river below. It is painted in bright bold colours and the surrounding peaks add to its allure. The monks in the Thyangboche Monastery are kind enough to let trekkers in to view a prayer session. Visitors are required to cover up their arms and legs and remove their shoes. Pictures are allowed but not the flash. Each of the monks is dressed in a red thick shawl and sits hunched over on one of the lines of benches. There is a thick incense in the air. Each session is several hours long though our group only stayed for about the first hour and a half. This was definitely one of the highlights of the tour.

#8 – Lose weight without even trying

Anyone that knows me knows I’ve battled my weight for awhile now. So any of these trips that help me drop the pounds without thinking about it are the best! That being said – if you are a foodie then the Mt. Everest base camp trek is not for you! The menu is exactly the same at every place you go. Fried rice, momos (dumplings that are great the first 10 times – not so much after that), oatmeal, and a few other options. It all sounds okay at first but after 15 days with the same things – you start to lose your mind. In a few places you can buy apples (for about $5 each) for a little variety! I had one apple for about 8 hours of trekking one day because the thought of any of those other menu items made me sick to my stomach.

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